Jan 20, 2022 - THROW BACK THURSDAY
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETTY CHANDLER AND THANK YOU!!!! PLUS CLASS NEWS
Thanks to Betty Chandler, the original LRCHS SWING BAND lives!!!! During Betty's days with all of us at Central, she was always busy accompanying any student who wanted to sing, hum, dance . . . and, of course, that certainly included brother BOBBY CHANDLER that we will miss forever. Whatever anyone could think of, Betty was always there with her hands on the keys, helping them get on key. And that wasn't just in school hours. She would work with these "aspiring" artists nights and weekends, at their home, wherever. After graduating from Central, then a move to Conway, attending Arkansas State Teachers College (remember that name??), she happened on a tall, long-haired sax player. After a short time of dating, she brought him home to meet her parents. Her Mother immediately called her back into the bedroom and said, "Betty, you can do better than that!" Well, the "better than that" man turned out to be John Ward, sax player for sure, singer with the Ward Family Singers made up of a bezillion brothers and sisters, then on to editor of the Log Cabin Democrat, originator of Toad Suck Daze, an annual Conway celebration, manager of the successful campaign of Winthrop Rockefeller for Governor of Arkansas, followed by authorship of two autobiographies of Winthrop and Paul Rockefeller. I'd say Betty did pretty darn well! Betty and John had two children, a son who just retired as assistant attorney to Judge Susan Weber Wright, and a daughter, Jenifer Ward, President of Luther College, Decatur, Iowa. So she did pretty well in the children department too!
THEN 21 years ago, she got a bee in her bonnet. She missed those old "Swing Band Days". She started making some phone calls and now in 2022, the founder of the SWING BAND REUNION, is still hitting those keys. She even lets me come every Thursday night to rehearsal and turn the pages for her. What a girl!!!! Actually I've had the time of my life sitting next to her. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETTY, AND HERE'S TO MANY MORE YEARS OF THAT WONDERFUL SMILE OF YOURS AND THE WONDERFUL MUSIC YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO GENERATE!
1956 CLASS NEWS
Get Well Soon to Jimmy Martin. Had a bout with pneumonia, but on the mend.
I loved the letter phone prefixes in the Tia Wanna phone number. My mother's downtown store was a
FRanklin. They're stuck in my mind. So, more recently, I've used them, especially the 1 cap letters from
LR and StL prefixes as passwords. for Internet communications. - Carol Tucker -Foreman
1955 CLASS NEWS
This was fun today! Enjoyed! I certainly remember Jimmy Brown. We ran around a bit; but don't remember specifics. Others involved. Came to LR to dance at Tia Wanna when I was in college at ASTC. - Anne Bone
ML…..With the description by Joe Crow regarding the location of Tia Wanna, Im wondering if your feet start dancing while you are in your office and typing on all this “Throw Back Thursday” stuff. Tia Wanna had a nice dance floor and a good Juke Box but also served a good steak. - Bob deBin
GORDON RATHER
Fifty years? Who serves on a state commission for 50 years? That would be Gordon Rather Jr., a lawyer at Wright Lindsey and Jennings, who has served on the Historic Arkansas Museum Commission since Oct. 26, 1971. “The mission of the museum is to preserve Arkansas’ rich history for future generations. Anything that I can do to preserve our remarkable heritage is something that I’m proud to participate in,” says Rather, who has been the commission’s secretary for as long as he can remember. In honor of his five decades of service, the museum recently named its exhibit and educational space in the Woodruff Print Shop annex in his honor. The print shop is especially significant to Rather — he is William E. Woodruff’s great-great-grandson. Rather was asked to join the commission by Ed Cromwell, an architect and family friend who knew of Rather’s connection to Woodruff. Cromwell died in 2001. “I have to think that is true,” Rather says when asked if he was asked to serve on the commission because of the family connection to Woodruff. “I don’t know that Mr. Cromwell ever said that, but as years have gone by, I thought to myself that had to be one of the reasons that at age 32 and just barely getting started in my law practice, Mr. Cromwell and the other commissioners would invite me to join them on the commission.” Rather is likely the longest-serving member of any state board or commission. The Historic Arkansas Museum Commission is the only state board or commission that is self perpetuating, Rather says. When the commission was created in the 1930s, the bylaws called for up to 11 members who are allowed to appoint new members to an unlimited number of years of service. “Gordon’s commitment to historic preservation and telling the story of early Arkansas and her people will benefit generations to come. He is a model civic leader.” Rather says serving on a state commission is “almost a family tradition.” His wife, Hayden, has served on the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History for six years.
So why has Rather been willing to serve on a commission for five decades? “Well, the truth of the matter is, I’ve never regarded that as any kind of a burden,” he says. “It’s been an honor and a privilege for me to be associated with the people who are on the commission. And it’s given me a great deal of pleasure. It’s been very rewarding and fulfilling.”
ML